Category Archives: Space Travel

Cochrane-based Stardust Technologies is developing what they hope will be a world-renowned space centre in northern Ontario, dedicated to training astronauts for space travel, inspiring youth to pursue careers in the sciences and attracting more tech companies to the region.

Dubbed the Stardust Space Centre, CEO Jason Michaud said the goal is to create a facility that brings international experts together with a common goal of improving astronauts' experiences as they venture into the cosmos.

"If we want to make space accessible for everyone, it starts with breaking the borders and just all collaborating as one big family and setting all of our differences aside," said Michaud, who has been experimenting with virtual reality technology as a way to improve astronauts' mental health during space missions.

"If humanity wants to thrive up there, we need empathy ... otherwise, we're not going to survive in space."

Stardust is partnering with unannounced government agencies, as well as aerospace companies and universities in Canada and abroad, to make the space centre possible.

Michaud invited around 20 collaborators and local officials to view the site of the planned facility Saturday, complete with a celebratory miniature rocket launch, snowshoeing and a tour of the community during its winter carnival weekend.

Michaud said the Stardust Space Centre will span more than 115 acres and include several inflatable domes.

Some domes will house training facilities to perform weeks or even months of isolation simulations that attempt to mimic the sensation of being on a space mission, perhaps on a short jaunt to the International Space Stationor even voyage to Mars.

Those Earth-bound simulations are called 'analog missions' and a journalist and filmmaker who participates in those missions as an 'analog astronaut' around the world told CTV there is exciting potential for this type of facility.

"One of the things that we're lacking is spaces where we can emulate the isolation conditions that we are actually going to be facing in those spacecrafts," said P.J. Marcelino, who worked with Stardust on a recent analog mission focusing on mental health during long-range space travel.

"There's a real potential to attract actual astronauts to train in this kind of station, for what they're going to be facing in the next coming years."

Marcelino said the Stardust Space Centre will allow for year-round missions in a climate that would be similar to what astronauts may face on Earth's nearest neighbour planet.

Michaud said other domes in the facility will house the Stardust Institute of Technology, which will give youth a chance to learn skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in their own communities.

The University of Waterloo, Western University and University of Technology Sydney in Australia are among the academic partners that will help train local youthplus local First Nations and Indigenous agencies will work with the centre to give Indigenous youth the chance to get into STEM.

"It's really about creating this future, where they can grow and learn and collaborate ... we really just want to inspire them," said Michaud.

"To show these kids that there are different opportunities ... and just show them that they can remain in the north and have these great experiences."

That's a mentality that fuelled Stardust's collaboration with Concordia University's student-run Space Concordia group in Montreal.

Two students who attended the announcement said they are working on the largest rocket launch in the country since the late 1990s and are working with Stardust on the project. They said exposing youth to the possibilities of careers in STEM is a passion of theirs that they hope to bring to northern Ontario.

"It's always great getting Canadians more and more involved with space, especially since we've clearly have a talent for it," said Concordia rocket science student Oleg Khalimonov.

"We're planning on doing a lot of outreach events with (Stardust) to do with rockets."

University partners brought model rockets and interactive robotics to Cochrane for a 'Rockets on Ice' event on Sunday, as an outreach initiative to get the community excited for the launch of the space centre sometime this year.

Michaud's other plan for his space centre is to house the Stardust Innovation Hub, an incubator for entrepreneurs to launch a STEM-related business, attract investment from existing companies and encourage innovation in the industry.

The goal is to develop a robust STEM industry in the north. Cochrane Mayor Denis Clement expressed his excitement for the economic potential the hub and the space centre as a whole can bring to the area.

The plan is to have some of the space centre's operations active by the summer and Michaud said he wants this to foster a stronger international community of space professionals.

"We need to collaborate with a lot of people to make stuff happen," Michaud said.

"We've got to stop thinking in our small mindset that we're in competition, we're not. We can all benefit each other and thrive together as humans."

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'Space centre' coming to the north to train astronauts, inspire youth in STEM - CTV News Northern Ontario

Some of that new Thor: Love and Thunder merch let fans knowhow the Asgardians can travel in space without Heimdall. An upcoming LEGO set with the infamous "Goat Boat"shows off Thor, Mighty Thor, King Valkyrie and more zooming across the Bifrost. But, how can that be after Idris Elba's character was killed in Avengers: Infinity War? Well, the answer lies in Thor's new weapon. Stormbreaker has the ability to channel the Bifrost from anywhere. That means, he can plug it into the front of the boat and everything works just fine. In fact, the LEGO set depicts just this as Thor stands near the end with Stormbreaker neatly slotted into the ship's neck. You can check it out for yourself down below.

Not that long ago, Marvel Studios artist Andy Park talked to ScreenRant about the upcoming film. "There's a reason why there's been over a decade of successful movies and just why this franchise is growing. So Thor: Love and Thunder falls right into that where it's just pushing the boundaries of what's comfortableand what should be expected," Park explained.

"You'll be surprised and push these characters and the visuals go along with that. I think Taika said it in some interview where he's just like, he's surprised that he's even, he shouldn't be allowed to make a movie like this. And I get it," he continued. "This movie is crazy wild. It's so much fun. And I simply cannot wait for everyone to see it. Because it was so much fun to work on and design so many characters and do keyframes for. It's going to be a good one. It's going to be fun."

Here's how LEGO describes the Goat Boat playset: "A Viking ship containing iconic characters from Marvel Studios' Thor: Love and Thunder movie makes LEGO Marvel The Goat Boat (76208) an ideal gift for kids aged 8 and up. Battle onboard Thor's flying ship. The longboat is drawn through the skies by legendary goats Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, who are raised off the ground so kids can easily push the ship along as they play. The set includes 5 minifigures Thor, Mighty Thor, Valkyrie, Korg and Gorr and a host of weapons and accessories, including Thor's Stormbreaker axe."

"A central cabin features an opening roof for access to extra play space inside. Authentic accessories including a boat wrench, fire extinguisher, map of New Asgard, bottle and a sunstone crystal further inspire imaginative play. When the day's Super-Hero adventures are over, kids can display the ship in their room. For extra construction fun, the free LEGO Building Instructions app contains intuitive, digital visualization tools, including zoom and rotate."

What other wildness do you think we'll see in Thor: Love and Thunder? Let us know down in the comments!

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Thor: Love and Thunder Merch Spoils How Asgardians Can Travel Space Without Heimdall - ComicBook.com

Our preferred picks within the real estate space from our coverage stocks universe are Macrotech followed by Oberoi Realty, says Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research, MOFSL.Is there merit in a higher allocation to Kotak and HDFC Bank given their underperformance year to date and in the previous year as well? Do you think they have a higher chance at a better recovery?The private banking space in the December quarter has reported a strong growth in net profit of almost 35% with loan growth picking up on a quarter on quarter basis. That was driven by the corporate portfolios. In the private space, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank had underperformed the larger corporate banks like ICICI Bank, SBI and Axis Bank for quite a long time.

If you look at the overall market structure, there is some kind of rotation. We have seen some kind of fatigue coming into the stocks like ICICI and SBI which ran up sharply over the last one-one and a half years. Incrementally people are looking at Kotak and HDFC Bank with respect to improvement in growth, improvement in their financial numbers and comparing that with the valuation comfort that they are providing. Nonetheless, our view still remains that one should overall look at the large corporate banks like ICICI Bank and SBI, which would remain our top picks despite the kind of interest that we are seeing in HDFC and Kotak.

What is the outlook when it comes to the open up trade? Do you believe that after being plagued by the Covid crisis for quite some time, as things are returning to normalcy, there is quite a bit of potential be it hotel stocks, aviation, multiplex stocks, restaurants and the like?If you look at the reopening trade that we have seen last year as well post the pandemic getting over and the restrictions being gradually easing off, there is a rush towards these kinds of sectors as they have been badly hit at the times of the lockdowns and restrictions. But again, one cannot take a blanket approach towards these players sectors like aviation, although opening up of the international routes is positive.

On the other side, we have currency as well as the crude oil price headwinds and one needs to be selective. Multiplexes are definitely looking good. Some of the other leisure entertainment space, travel segments are definitely worth looking at at this current juncture, especially as globally, there are countries which are saying that now Covid is no longer a pandemic and is a normal course of disease which one needs to get through.

The restrictions of the tests are being removed from a lot of countries as well. In India also, domestic travel no longer needs to show test certificates and all those things. It is a positive development for the sectors which have been impacted pretty heavily in the last two years, if we do not see any return of the Covid restrictions, these companies will do well but one needs to be very selective in the broader unlocking theme.

Do you believe the time is right now for a lot of these real estate counters which had come under acute pressure now to see a decisive bounce back?On the overall real estate pack, we have been quite positive for the last couple of months. Last year, there has been a huge increase in demand especially on the residential side and that has helped the large real estate players to clear off the inventories, improve cash flows and some of them have even raised cash from the market to strengthen their balance sheet going forward.

Real estate stocks like Sobha, Oberoi Realty, Prestige Estates are still holding on to gains of around 4% to 5%. Would you like to play this theme with the real estate stocks itself or would you like to broaden it a bit to get into the building material or the plywoods or the pipes. of the world?If you look at the overall real estate space, the cycle is turning after almost 10-12 years and in the previous cycle, there were a lot of unorganised players. In the last 10 years, we have seen consolidation with smaller players getting out or getting merged with larger players. The regulatory environment has improved a lot be it RERA, be it the GST. , that has only helped the larger organised nationalised players to gain market share and finally post pandemic because of the lower interest rates and the resultant improvement in demand.

People are spending more time at home, requiring larger homes and we see that the overall real estate cycle is improving and just starting off. Our preferred players would be to play directly with the real estate companies. The balance sheets have improved over the last couple of years. The inventory levels have come down and that makes them pretty attractive at this current juncture.

Our preferred picks within the real estate space from our coverage stocks universe are Macrotech followed by Oberoi Realty. To play the real estate indirectly, we like the cement sector which is also a play on infrastructure spend. We recently had the Budget where the capex theme from the government continued for the second year in a row. We believe that cement is facing several headwinds in terms of a little bit of demand slowdown as well as higher raw material cost leading to margin pressure. But this space can benefit from the growth and increasing demand in the real estate and infra space. We like UltraTech among largecap names and JK Cement and Birla Corp within the midcap space.

When it comes to the cement basket, there are concerns regarding supply as well as cost. Do you think it has already been factored into the price?The overall cement space has faced major headwinds on the cost inflation side and that has impacted margins. The overall trend, the longer term view that we have is that some of these cost pressures as well as lower volumes are already there in the price. For this year, the Budget is capex friendly. We have got the first monsoon estimates from Skymet which is again positive.

The rural segment has been subdued and has impacted not only cement but a lot of other sectors like two-wheelers, tractors and FMCG space and is also having an impact on the cement sector. But with the kind of spending and now with the elections in some of these larger states getting over, the demand should recover and that should help the space come back on its feet.

They have been unable to take price hikes but that should follow with the construction season beginning and improving demand from the real estate and infra space. A lot is already there in the price and one should look selectively at some of the cement stocks like UltraTech which is our top pick in the large cap space and JK Cement and Birla Corp in the midcap space.

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Betting on these 5 stocks in realty and cement sectors: Siddhartha Khemka - Economic Times

Space travel is booming. With companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic attempting to revolutionize space tourism, its only a matter of time before it becomes widely available to the general public.

For decades, billions of dollars have been spent on examining the effects of space travel on human physiology, with a deep understanding that space medicine and science is still largely uncharted territory. These efforts have never been more important, as human space travel is now becoming increasingly mainstream.

Last year, I wrote about how research in space physiology demonstrates that space travel has a wide variety of effects on the human body, including muscle atrophy, increased risk of cancer, and behavioral changes. Indeed, the reasons for these detrimental effects are numerous, including increased exposure to solar radiation, solitary confinement for extended periods of time, lack of muscle resistance due to loss of gravity, and many more.

A recent research study supported by the Canadian Space Agency and The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine found yet another noteworthy phenomenon: space anemia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines anemia as a condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration within them is lower than normal. Haemoglobin is needed to carry oxygen and if you have too few or abnormal red blood cells, or not enough haemoglobin, there will be a decreased capacity of the blood to carry oxygen to the bodys tissues.Accordingly, the effects of anemia are quite serious. As the WHO explains, anemia may result in symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, dizziness and shortness of breath, among others.

VAN HORN, TEXAS - JULY 20: Blue Origins New Shepard crew (L-R) Jeff Bezos, Wally Funk, Oliver ... [+] Daemen, and Mark Bezos walk near the booster to pose for a picture after flying into space in the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas. Mr. Bezos and the crew were the first human spaceflight for the company. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

As the WHO further details, The most common causes of anaemia include nutritional deficiencies, particularly iron deficiency, though deficiencies in folate, vitamins B12 and A are also important causes; haemoglobinopathies; and infectious diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and parasitic infections.

But the new research study, published in Nature Medicine, found that the destruction of red blood cells, termed hemolysis, is a primary effect of microgravity in space flight and support the hypothesis that the anemia associated with space flight is a hemolytic condition that should be considered in the screening and monitoring of both astronauts and space tourists.

Dr. Guy Trudel, the physician that spearheaded the study alongside other academics, explains more in the press release: Space anemia has consistently been reported when astronauts returned to Earth since the first space missions, but we didnt know why [] Our study shows that upon arriving in space, more red blood cells are destroyed, and this continues for the entire duration of the astronauts mission.

Thankfully, having fewer red blood cells in space isnt a problem when your body is weightlessBut when landing on Earth and potentially on other planets or moons, anemia affecting your energy, endurance, and strength can threaten mission objectives. The effects of anemia are only felt once you land, and must deal with gravity again.

These findings are incredibly relevant, as they highlight yet another layer of understanding regarding the impact of space travel on human physiology. Without a doubt, as space travel becomes more affordable and accessible, more individuals will attempt to treat it as a recreational activity. But just as with any other vocation or hobby, regulators and policy leaders will have to develop certain protocols, health requirements, and screening criteria to determine who is safe to travel into space.

Research like Trudels and the significant amount of scholarship done over the past few decades by thousands of other dedicated scientists and scholars have not only helped humankind push the bounds of knowledge with regards to space travel, but will also become critically valuable for the purpose of creating safe frameworks for the future of space travel.

Indeed, with a commitment to learn more, a keen appetite for curiosity, and dedication put forth by intellectually hungry scholars, humanity may indeed make space travel safe, accessible, and mainstream, one day soon.

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Space Anemia Just One Of The Many Impacts of Space Travel On The The Human Body - Forbes

Were in 1957, the height of the Cold War. The Soviets and Americans are racing to space, and the Soviets have pulled ahead by launching the first human-made object into the Earths orbit. The next goal on the horizon: sending a man into space. But before that, there was Laika, a stray dog from Moscow who was the sole living occupant of the spacecraft Sputnik 2, which orbited the Earth. Sputnik fell from space eventually, but Laika did not survive the trip.

Now Laika has been resurrected as the subject of a vapid new musical, Space Dogs, an MCC Theater production that opened on Sunday and that stars its creators, Nick Blaemire and Van Hughes.

Directed by Ellie Heyman, Space Dogs recounts the story of Laika, the best known of the dogs that Soviet scientists trained for space travel. In this retelling, a scientist known by the code name Chief Designer led that initiative.

Parts of the show are told from Laikas perspective, from doggie diary entries and songs (Laika is played by a plushie that is mostly handled and voiced by Blaemire). Other parts come from the perspective of the chief designer, played by Hughes. The rest of the scenes break the fourth wall, providing historical and political context. Its informative, in a slipshod way, but also hopelessly cheesy, packed with dad jokes, puns, silly accents and even a doggie beauty contest. Space Dogs gives off the vibe of a B-grade educational childrens show though one with the occasional vulgarity amid the bleak material.

One oddly peppy song recounts how the chief designer, driven by a void in the center of his chest, to use a clich from the show, was imprisoned in the gulag and tortured during the height of Stalins rule. And though no dogs were harmed in the making of this show, there are canine casualties and somber existential musings from the four-legged friends. Besides the Bowie-esque chorus and spoken word of Fill the Void, and the alternating soft acoustic chords and heavy strumming of Blessed by Two Great Oceans, most of the musicals songs are pretty uniform stylistically and generically upbeat bouncy yet forgettable numbers that contribute little to the story.

Space Dogs also telegraphs Pixar-level heartbreak through mawkish tunes. What if I die? What if I fall out of the sky? Laika sings, and later croons from beyond the grave about her dashed hopes for a family and delicious steak. Its emotionally manipulative, especially for tenderhearted animal-lovers in the audience. The show then must walk a difficult line between a celebration of Laika and her canine colleagues (History was changed by dogs! the two actors declare) and commentary on the ambitions of two countries on the brink of mutual annihilation.

Hughes and Blaemire attack their material with such enthusiasm; their earnestness is palpable, even taking into account the corniness of the book and their imperfect vocals (the songs they wrote accommodate their range and abilities).

The rest of the production appears poised to overshadow the two stars and their story. Wilson Chins scenic design is compact and cluttered, full of drawers and speakers of different shapes and sizes stacked together Tetris-style alongside Soviet and American flags. Amanda Villalobos offers some fabulous puppet and prop design that, unfortunately, isnt prominently showcased until the last third of the show.

The lighting design (Mary Ellen Stebbins) is the boldest, full of neons and strobes. Projections, green screens and live cameras all figure prominently as well, and though the celestial lights and scenery are dazzling, all of these elements together offer a glut of visual information that is often overwhelming.

What would my own dog think of such a show, I wondered as I left the theater. Im betting hed prefer to keep his paws on the ground.

Space DogsThrough March 13 at MCC Theater, Manhattan; mcctheater.org. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

More:

Space Dogs Review: To Boldly Go Where No Dog Has Gone Before - The New York Times

Writing a book takes a lot of work.

Whether you have a story burning inside of you, or you simply want to build your brand, a well written and promoted book can be the gateway to career development, more speaking and presenting gigs, and increased credibility in your field. Writing a book is an opportunity to reach a specific audience, tap into a content marketing strategy, build a community of followers who resonate with your message, and create a platform for thought leadership. From travel podcast hosts to book publishing pros to travel writers and editors, the following experts in the travel space offer their most sage advice.

For prospective writers who are working on a travel-related guide, memoir, or the like, Marika Flatt, founder and chief publicity strategist of PR by the Book, says that to begin writers should create a social media strategy and roll it out on a consistent schedule. Also, authors should define their target reader. Create an avatar of who this person is, says Flatt. What do they like to do? Where do they buy and read books? Get clear on who youre writing for before you begin.

Founding editor of Unearth Women and co-author of the new book, Wanderess, Nikki Vargas says that to get books into the hands of readers, first-time authors will spend time developing a book proposal, approaching literary agentsa good one is key, and pitching publishers. Because getting a book published can be tricky, I have seen a myriad of stellar women I admire self-publishing books and leveraging their individual platforms to spread awareness, which I think is a great option for first-time authors that may be wary of navigating the world of publishing but are keen to see their work fulfilled, says Vargas.

We were approached by an editor at Clarkson Potter who had discovered the work we were doing with Unearth Women and believed it could lend itself nicely to a book, Vargas says. While we were extremely fortunate to be approached by a major imprint like Clarkson Potter and publisher like Penguin Random House, I recognize that my experience with Wanderess is rare.

Wanderess, as Vargas says, is a womens travel resource that utilizes the diverse experiences of leading women in the industry, women like Oneika Raymond, Brooke Saward, Kelly Lewis, Dani Heinrich, Esme Benjamin, and Annika Ziehen. Co-authored by myself and Unearth Women Co-Founder, Elise Fitzsimmons, Wanderess aims to show travelers how best to support and connect with women worldwide while also diving into the nuances of the travel experience. The pages of Wanderess cover everything from solo travel to travel planning to LGBTQ+ travel to traveling as a woman of color, as a new mom, and so much more.

With regards to the pros and cons of traditional versus independent versus self-publishing modalities, Flatt says, Most people need a book shepherd to herd them in the right direction. In traditional publishing, they do most of the work for you once you sell your bookthey'll handle everything including editing, layout, design, sales, marketing, and distribution. When you self-publish, all of that falls on your shoulders.

And, in a saturated market, writers, Flatt says, must be unique or different to stand out. Create a listicle (an article in the form of a list) that covers your expertise and make sure these are tips youre not hearing all over the placestart there and lean on that with your messaging.

Building a community of wanderers has long been the modus operandi for Jason Moore, from the popular Zero to Travel Podcast. Initially, way back in 2013, the show began as a way to inspire others to travel through storytelling, strategic planning, and expert advice.

It was the show I wish I had when I started out with $20,000 of debt and a dream to see the world, Moore says. When I started getting messages from listeners telling me how the show helped them overcome adversities and hit the road, I knew I was onto something. What I didnt know is how much of an impact the show would have on my life as well. Outside of traveling, getting married, and having kids, starting a podcast is the best thing Ive ever done both personally and professionally.

For authors, being a featured guest on a podcast has its benefits. Podcast listeners have a strong connection with their favorite shows, Moore says. An invite means the host is vouching for youyoull have the audiences trust from the get-go, so dont blow it!Provide as much value as humanely possible to the audience, do your best to entertain them along the way, and be sure to leave listeners with plenty of reasons to buy your bookinvite them to get in touch or offer a freebie to hop on your email list. If you do these things right, and the audience is a solid match for your content, then sales will be sure to follow.

To promote a book, being on a podcast as a guest can help demonstrate to readers your expertise in a field. Youve done the research; youve put in the time. Ive had a lot of authors as guests on my podcasts, says Shelby Stanger, host of Vitamin Joy, a new podcast in the health and wellness space, and Wild Ideas Worth Living, a podcast by REI Co-op Studios. Many have told me book sales have gone up after my show or other shows and many listeners have written thanking me for recommending a book on the show.

Stanger, who has a background in journalism as well as marketing in the outdoor and health and fitness spaces, says, As a writer and storyteller, Ive always loved stories about people who have taken the road less travelled, and turned their wildest ideas into a reality. That has been the impetus for Wild Ideas. There have been several times when I have felt stuck and listening to others who have been able to go for it has always encouraged me to get unstuck and make a positive change to go for it as well.

Podcasts, as it turns out, have been an excellent conduit for truth telling. I love that in podcasting, interviews live in a fuller format, and it always feels like such an intimate conversation. As a listener, some podcast hosts begin to feel like friends, and I hope I feel like a friend to some people listening as well, says Stanger.

For Wild Ideas Worth Living Podcast by REI Co-Op Studios, we interview anyone with a wild idea, from those you have heard of like author Cheryl Strayed who wroteWildand rock climber Alex Honnold who many know from the movieFree Solo to those you might not know as much, like Corina Newsome, an ornithology graduate student who started a movement for black birders and Chris Fagan who, with her husband Marty, became the fastest American married couple to ski to the South Pole, Stanger says. On the show, we talk about where people get their wild ideas, how they deal with fear, failure and obstacles along the way, and the beauty of the journey.

We share advice to hopefully encourage others to go after their own wild ideas, Stanger says. I truly believe a little adventure is lifes antidote. Over the last five years, we've received dozens of letters from listeners saying a show they listened to encouraged them to pursue learning to surf, bike across the county, and even move across the country.

Read more here:

Should You Write A Book? Experts In The Travel Space Offer Tips - Forbes

Northrop Grumman cargo launch to the International Space Station From Wallops

Live video of .Northrop Grumman's cargo launch to the International Space Station from Wallops on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021

Salisbury Daily Times

Another launch of theAntares rocket from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 19means another opportunity to witness space travel.

Viewing locations on Chincoteague Island include Robert Reed Park on Main Street or Beach Road spanning the area between Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. The Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Atlantic beaches also provide good viewing locations.

Live coverage of the mission countdown is scheduled to begin at approximately 7:30 a.m. on theWallops IBM video site.

This will be Northrop Grummans 17th commercial resupply services mission to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies and equipment to theInternational Space Station.

According to a statement by Wallops Flight Facility, "the public can also share in the journey through a variety of activitiesincludingregisteringto attend this launch virtually. NASAs virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following a successful launch."

More on the flight schedule: Antares liftoff from Wallops to Space Station set for February

More on STEM careers and NASA: NASA, UMES join forces to promote STEM careers

NASA TV will also be airing the launch for those unable to make it to viewing areas.

Originally posted here:

These are the best places to watch the upcoming rocket launch on the Eastern Shore - Delmarva Now

Six years ago, Elon Musk shared his vision of humanity as a multi-planetary species, that would achieve this status in part thanks to fully reusable space vehicles like the then-announced Starship.

About a year later, he expanded the concept, showing how the system could not only be used to send astronauts to Mars, but also connect cities around Earth in as little as half an hour, at prices comparable to todays air fares.

A journey between Singapore and Tokyo could take as little as 28 minutes compared to todays seven hours.

Many have dismissed these visions as science-fiction, but it seems that SpaceX is gradually and successfully peeling away the fiction component by proving skeptics wrong. And in the coming two years, its plans are about to bear real fruit.

Starship went from a 3D rendering to a working prototype that is expected to reach orbit this year. And not a moment too soon as SpaceXs first floating launch pads, made from repurposed oil rigs, are going to be ready for testing by the end of this or early next year.

Meanwhile, the Singapore government has just pledged S$150 million in investment into space research during the Global Space and Technology Convention, which took place in the city last week.

The funds will be injected into Space Technology Development Programme, which seeks to develop Singapores space capabilities in areas such as aviation, maritime and sustainability.

Admittedly, its just a tiny drop in the bucket but then again, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Singapore is often compared to Venice, which was once a very powerful (even if tiny) republic settled around the Adriatic sea, controlling much of the European trade with the near and far East for centuries.

The legacy of its past greatness, evidenced by its remarkable architecture, is what draws millions of tourists there today, even as the city plays no role in trade anymore.

However, this comparison has always irked me a little.

Back in the day, Venice was near the frontier of competition between Europe and the Middle East. Unlike Singapore, it participated in many wars, conquered and colonised coastal territories and islands of the Mediterranean. It was a geographically privileged, relatively powerful gatekeeper of international trade in the basin.

Singapore is just a peaceful entrept bridging East and West. A well-respected, trusted and attractive one, but certainly neither absolutely indispensable (there are other countries hoping to nib away its advantage and the melting Arctic may soon make northern trade route more viable) nor outwardly hostile to anyone.

Times of easy territorial expansion and colonisation are gone, and the entire world has been thoroughly explored. There are few frontiers to cross these days and, consequently, there are few opportunities for a tiny country like Singapore to seek undisputed international leadership at.

Lands may be divided and borders largely settled, but thats on the Earths surface. Virgin territories of the cosmos are our new frontier and there, it is still fair game for everyone, including a diminutive but wealthy city-state.

While Singapore isnt exactly what Venice once was for international trade in Europe, it could play such a role in access to outer space.

Skeptics may be eager to dismiss the local governments pledge to invest in space technologies as publicity stunt or an ill-advised response to a fashionable trend, which exploded with the successful rise of Elon Musks SpaceX, but that would be unfair.

It rather comes from a realisation that much of our future will be decided above our heads. Telecommunications, military, hypersonic travel and logistics, and cutting-edge scientific research will require access to orbit (and beyond).

To ensure a prosperous future, Singapore has to leap ahead to take advantage of opportunities that would diversify its risks away from seaborne logistics.

Curiously, just like with sea trade, Singapore is in a privileged position to be one of the critical hubs for cosmic endeavors, perhaps even one of its leaders (particularly in connecting large urban areas to space, as currently rocket launches are carried out from very remote locations).

Firstly, it is conveniently located at the equator, which gives a boost to vehicles launched into space thanks to higher rotational speed of the Earth its both less difficult and costly than launching from higher latitudes.

Secondly, with the advent of offshore launch pads (like the ones developed by SpaceX), its coastal location means it could deploy necessary infrastructure on water, away from the city itself.

Thirdly, as it is the only highly developed country at the equator, and one with a robust local manufacturing and engineering sectors, it could provide a necessary technological base that would be very close to the launch location. This includes not only parts and maintenance (e.g. by experienced offshore companies) but also products like specialised fuels for all kinds and sizes of rockets, delivered by Singapores advanced petrochemical sector.

Southeast Asia is particularly starved of launch locations, although Indonesia has already offered a new spaceport to SpaceX, located on Biak island in West Papua. But like in all other cases, its in the middle of nowhere, creating logistical hurdles.

Admittedly, theres no lack of geographically suitable locations around the world that could serve as launch sites, but there are none that would combine all the advantages of Singapore.

Enough of blue sky thinking though, we have to come down to Earth now, both literally and figuratively.

For any technology to develop, there has to be a logical business case. Singapore wont dump billions of dollars into development of infrastructure that may not yield any benefits for years, if ever.

Since were decades away from space mining of resources that may be rare on Earth (what would justify venturing out to get them), the only commercial activities that have a net positive monetary value are putting things into orbit and transporting things and people around the planet.

Its in this spirit that Elon Musk touted SpaceXs upcoming Starship five years ago. Not only as a rocket taking humans to Mars, but also one that can get them from point A to B on Earth much faster than not only traditional jet flight, but even supersonic planes that are in development today.

While we can expect the next generation Concorde to travel at top speeds of 2,000 to 3,000 km/h, the top speed on a brief orbital flight would be as much as 27,000 km/h. Any place on Earth would be within a 30 to 60 minute journey, with most locations approximately half an hour away.

Even if we assume some time would be spent like at modern airports on boarding and security procedures, it still means a journey of around two hours anywhere in the world.

The floating platforms that SpaceX has ordered are meant to aid that. Located at a distance of about 20 miles from the shore (due to safety and noise constraints), they would serve as spaceports for Earth-to-Earth travel, at speeds that no plane could possibly compete with.

And while Elon Musk, in his typical hyperbolic fashion, touted tickets as cheap as ordinary economy class, Im sure that even at first-class prices, there would be many takers to get to the other side of the globe in less time it can often take to cross a busy city.

Early calculations suggested a possible ticket price of US$1,200 per head, should the rocket fit an equivalent of an A380 (853 passengers). But its easy to see that at US$10,000 it should easily get about 100 each time, in business/first-class equivalent conditions.

Such a low cost is achievable thanks to full reusability of the rocket, which reduces operational costs to just fuel and maintenance.

During last weeks presentation at the companys Starbase in Texas, Elon Musk stated a target of flying each rocket every six to eight hours, with the first-stage refuelling process taking as little as 30 minutes, thanks to the new launch-and-catch tower designed by SpaceX engineers in just a year to accelerate the vehicle turnaround times.

But to get people on board, they still have to get there and current space launch centres are often located hundreds of miles away from major cities.

Singapore, however, is among the best-suited to be one of the first to build one close enough.

I mentioned the 20 mile (32km) distance that any future spaceport would have to be located away from the nearest urban centers as rockets are rather loud far louder than traditional jet airliners.

For frequent, daily flights (which are the ultimate goal), the noise levels would not be acceptable anywhere near a major city.

So, the question now is: where can Singapore find a place 20 miles away from the shore when the island itself is little over 20 miles long, east to west?

Indonesias Batam, home to over a million people, is just 10 miles away. Johor is right across the border. All in all, there are approximately 7.5 million people living within a 20 to 30 mile radius.

Rockets cannot just take off and land at Changi, with noise and vibration tearing nearby buildings (and peoples eardrums) to pieces.

Fortunately, and unexpectedly, Singapore happens to have just the place for the job.

The lengthy territorial dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over ownership of a few rocky outcrops out to the east of the Malay Peninsula, was concluded by International Court of Justice in 2008, confirming Singapores sovereignty over Pedra Branca and Malaysian over nearby Middle Rocks.

While it may have thus far seemed to have been a rather petty squabble over distant and largely useless rocks that barely stick above the water (that few Singaporeans will see), the requirements of space launches may suddenly make them very valuable.

It does not seem to be a far-fetched idea to consider repurposing the area for the needs of a rocket launch and landing facilities, of a size comparable to the offshore rigs that SpaceX is developing now (or even larger). Alternatively, it could perhaps act as a mooring location for floating platforms or a support and control centre of sorts.

Most importantly, however, it is both close enough to the city to allow a swift journey (one could even imagine using existing Changi facilities for the purpose) over sea or a short hop by helicopter, and far enough not to be a nuisance to anyone.

The nearest shores are 10 miles away and home only to a handful of people in a few coastal towns and villages.

If Singapore wants to seriously engage in space travel and retain full control over the infrastructure, this is the only place it could do it at. The alternatives are a cooperation with Malaysia and/or Indonesia, and while certainly possible, we know it may often not go to plan.

Until recently, space travel for mere mortals was just science fiction. But with SpaceXs contributions to lowering launch costs, todays business elites are now already able to afford a journey to the orbit and soon, even around the Moon, like Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.

While the price tag for these experiences is still in the millions of dollars, progress made on new launch vehicles promises to cut the costs even further, gradually opening space to thousands and then millions of travelers.

Leadership in this private market space race is going to be taken by countries and cities that can provide the most attractive combination of conditions: large and wealthy enough populations, attractiveness to travel (particularly for business), regulatory clarity, political stability, engineering expertise, logistical connectivity and geographically suitable launch locations.

Despite its tiny size, Singapore appears to be ticking all of the boxes.

And if the market trends prove to be promising, it can deploy nearly unlimited amounts of capital from its reserves, that are invested in profitable ventures in and out of the country, just like it painstakingly built stellar reputation of Singapore Airlines over the years.

With the right timing and a dose of good luck, it can open up a literally unlimited space of opportunities and become a gateway to the orbit and beyond with the added benefit of abandoning its Earthly territorial limitations, that will no longer constrain its future.

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Singapore to Tokyo in 28 minutes? Can the Lion City become the Venice of outer space? - Vulcan Post

First it was oral care biofilms, now it is skin care. Colgate-Palmolive, through its PCA Skin brand, is sending new research into space this weekend.NASA and commercial cargo provider Northrop Grummanare targetingthis Saturday, Feb. 19, for the launch of the company's 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station. In the more 8,200 pounds ofresearch, crew supplies, and hardware, Northrop Grumman's Cygnus is Colgate-Palmolives investigation that will leverage the acceleration ofskin aging in microgravityto help create and validate an engineered tissue model to serve as a platform for testing potential products to protect aging skin. The study comes from Colgate-Palmolove-owned skin care brand PCA Skin.

Last summer, NASA's SpaceX Dragon returned to earth with a Colgate experiment on board. In December, Tide detergent headed into orbit aboard SpaceX Dragon.

We know from historical data that space travel and lengthy exposure to microgravity have profound effects on the skin. Astronauts in space experience thinning, dry skin that is susceptible to cuts. While these changes are comparable to those observed during the normal aging process on Earth, it appears that they are accelerated in microgravity, said Lia Arvanitidou, global technology and design vice president for Colgate-Palmolives skin health businesses. Through this exciting endeavor, well be able to gather new data on the skin health biomarkers behind those changes - data which will be available faster than it would be on Earth, said Arvanitidou.As microgravity accelerates changes in skin that mimic aging,exposure to it aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is crucial for rapid identification of aging-related alterations in skin physiology and for prediction and mitigation of aging-associated skin problems.To investigate the effects of microgravity on skin, an in vitro 3D human skin model is exposed to the microgravity environment aboard the ISS. Analyses of molecular markers indicate the level of tissue stress and recovery responses. The microgravity-induced molecular blueprint is compared to that from skin tissues cultured as ground controls. Observed differences in molecular patterns can offer unique insights on the biological pathways involved in normal skin homeostasis and clues on mechanisms of their disruption during aging. These insights will be used to design molecular strategies for skin health management interventions.

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PCA Skin To Send Skin Aging Study Into Space on Feb. 19 - happi.com

Getting to another star system? Its commonplace in science fiction. Simply switch on the hyperdrive or warp drive, depending on the fandom one prefers and youre there. But getting it done in reality is no easy task.

Traveling to Alpha Centauri, our nearest star system neighbor at 4.37 light years away, would take much more than a lifetime. Even one of the fastest probes humankind has launched, Voyager 1, would take more than 70,000 years to arrive there at its current speed of 61,500 kilometers per hour.

Still, the tantalizing prospect of reaching other stars in our lifetimes has motivated many engineers to come up with creative approaches to accelerating spacecraft propulsion, including laser-driven light sails. Instead of harnessing the wind like their ancient shipboard cousins, light sails are propelled by light reflecting off their surfaces.

A multi-scale nanostructure enables the sail to reflect laser light well, while staying cool by radiating its heat away (Courtesy of Aaswath Raman)Toward that goal, researchers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the University of Pennsylvanias School of Engineering and Applied Science are exploring ways to build and optimize nanoscale light sails for the journey into interstellar space.

Funded by Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million research and engineering program seeking to develop a new technology for un-crewed interstellar travel, the research was recently published in Nano Letters. In two separate papers, the groups proposed and evaluated new concepts in the shape, size and materials of future light sails designed to accelerate quickly while staying cool so they will not overheat and evaporate in space.

A powerful laser pulse beamed from Earths surface would provide the push needed to reach the great speeds required for faster interstellar travel. This beam would accelerate a small nanocraft, no heavier than one-third an ounce, through the vacuum of space. If designed correctly, such a spacecraft could reach speeds around 20% of the speed of light, about 3.6 million kilometers per hour. At those speeds, Alpha Centauri-bound spacecraft could reach their destination in about 30 years and could then beam images and measurements back to Earth.

Humanity has never accelerated macroscopic objects to such relativistic speeds before. To achieve this breakthrough, extreme properties are required of all components involved, from the lasers to the ultralight probe, as well as the sail itself.

The sails must be extraordinarily light much lighter than a feather yet able to adequately reflect the lasers light to propel itself forward. A sail that is about 2 meters in diameter might weigh less than a gram, or a few thousandths of a pound.

In one of the papers, the research groups addressed a fundamental challenge faced by laser light sails: absorbing even a small fraction of the laser light on a sail could destroy it.

We demonstrated designs that have the ability to quickly accelerate the sail and the craft its pulling along, while making sure it doesnt disintegrate immediately. said Aaswath Raman.

Unfortunately, when you aim a powerful laser at something, even if it absorbs a very tiny fraction of that laser light, it will tend to get really hot, said Aaswath Raman, a UCLA assistant professor of materials science and engineering who led this study. We aimed to solve this problem by designing nanoscale light sails that leverage unique material properties and optical behaviors that arise when materials are structured at scales comparable to the wavelength of incoming light. We demonstrated designs that have the ability to quickly accelerate the sail and the craft its pulling along, while making sure it doesnt disintegrate immediately.

Previous research on light sails has focused on increasing vehicle speed at the expense of durability or vice versa, but the UCLA-UPenn team aims to strike a realistic balance between both.

The team incorporated molybdenum disulfide, an emerging atomically thin 2D material with a high index of refraction, along with silicon nitride, a material that also has the properties needed to radiate heat away effectively. Their modeling shows that this sail design could not only survive the initial acceleration phase that propels the light sails forward but also reach the target velocity at a distance close to Earth. This is important because the laser targeting the sail will be beamed from Earth and cannot propel the sail once the vehicle gets beyond a certain distance.

The new sail material could be incorporated into a design in which very small squares of the fabric, about one hundredth of a millimeter in area, are lashed together, rather than a single sheet, to further improve heat dissipation.

The lead author on the paper is John Brewer, a UCLA doctoral student advised by Raman and supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Other senior authors on the paper include Penn Engineerings Deep Jariwala, an assistant professor of electrical and systems engineering, and Igor Bargatin, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics. Additional authors include UCLA undergraduate student Sachin Kulkarni and Penn Engineering postdoctoral researchers Matthew Campbell and Pawan Kumar.

In the second paper, the researchers proposed that the sails design should allow it to bulge out, more like a parachute, instead of being flat.

The intuition here is that a very tight sail, whether its on a sailboat or in space, is much more prone to tears, said Bargatin, who led the study. Its a relatively easy concept to grasp, but we needed to do some very complex math to actually show how these materials would behave at this scale.

Rather than a flat sheet, Bargatin and his colleagues suggest that a curved structure, roughly as deep as it is wide, would be most able to withstand the strain of the sails hyper-acceleration, a pull thousands of times that of Earths gravity.

Campbell was the lead author on this paper. Other authors include Brewer, Jariwala and Raman.

Breakthrough Starshot is part of the Breakthrough Initiatives, a suite of space science programs investigating the fundamental questions of life in the universe. Funded by the Breakthrough Foundation, these philanthropic initiatives were established by Yuri and Julia Milner.

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Innovative Reflective Materials to Accelerate Space Probes Light Years Away - UCLA Samueli School of Engineering Newsroom